Hi Allison,
Well, it was Susan who asked. :)
Our alpacas love apples and carrots., especially. Also pears. I had one who ate Nilla wafers that my daughter had with her. And he'd drink Pepsi from a can, too. :) Now, that boy was very friendly, we never worried about handling him too much or him becoming "berzerk". I sold him as a pet boy to a woman with small children, and he is still the sweetest boy in the world, and still intact.
So, over-handling doesn't make for poor behavior in a male alpaca. Or kissing or treating like a puppy... We handle all of our crias a lot!
To tell you the truth, from what I've seen on our farm, I think it is lack of handling that makes a wild and unpredictable alpaca. Or if a male has become accustomed to being handled, then for whatever reason no longer gets that attention, they can turn aggressive. They're not so different from anyone else.
Laura,
The boy on our farm that used to bump me all the time: Not only did I have to become the alpha and teach him that he isn't to come too close to me, and that rushing is not acceptable, but I also had to give him personal attention. I'd scratch his cheeks and chin, tell him what a good boy he was, to give him permission to be a good boy. "Operant Conditioning" Psych 101. :) It works. Not overnight, but it does work.
Stop (abort) the poor behavior, and reinforce good behavior.
Heather
On Jul 14, 2009, at 6:50 AM, Allison Moss-Fritch wrote:
Hi Heather,
I call paca pelleted food "crunchies" which you can use as a treat …but for us the pecans have worked best of all! The largest and most curious girl where we agist wanted to know what I was eating out of my pocket and came up….so once she had "smelled" me eating them and I gave her one to try…that is what started it. Pecans seem to be a sort of alpaca truffle in their view.
I guess in the wild, any berry, nut or fruit is considered a prime treat.
Allison
From: AlpacaTalk@yahoogroups.com [mailto:AlpacaTalk@yahoogroups.com]On Behalf Of LunarStruck@aol.com
Sent: Tuesday, July 14, 2009 2:18 AM
To: AlpacaTalk@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [AlpacaTalk] Aggressive male
Allison, I can't WAIT to try your method on our girls just to get them to come when called! Thanks so much for that tip! What are Paca Crunchies?
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